Preparation

Combine potatoes and 5 cups water in large pot. Cover and boil until potatoes are very tender, about 40 minutes. Ladle 1 1/4 cups cooking liquid into small bowl and reserve; cool reserved liquid to lukewarm. Drain potatoes. Transfer potatoes to medium bowl and mash potatoes until smooth. Place mashed potatoes in strainer set over large bowl of electric mixer. Using rubber spatula, press mashed potatoes through strainer. Add 3/4 cup sugar, butter, 4 teaspoons salt and 1 1/4 cups reserved cooking liquid to mashed potatoes. Using dough hook, beat until well blended.

Combine 1/2 cup warm water, yeast and pinch of sugar in small bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add to potato mixture and beat to blend. Beat in 4 eggs. Mix in enough flour, 1 cup at a time, to form soft dough. Turn out dough onto generously floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary to form soft elastic dough, about 10 minutes. Lightly oil large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Oil 2 large baking sheets. Sprinkle generously with the cornmeal. Turn out dough onto floured surface. Divide dough in half; knead each piece lightly. If desired, knead raisins into 1 piece of dough. Divide each dough piece into 3 equal portions. Roll out each portion between work surface and palms of hand to 15-inch-long rope. Form into braids, using 3 ropes for each braid. Tuck ends under and pinch ends together. Place 1 loaf on each baking sheet. Cover with towel and let rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush loaves with egg glaze. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue baking until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom, about 25 minutes longer. Transfer to racks and cool completely. (Can be made ahead. Wrap tightly in foil and freeze up to 2 weeks.)

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Reviews

I absolutely LOVE this recipe. It comes out perfectly every time I make it. Someone asked for shortcuts regarding the potatoes. I don't peel the potatoes. I wash them, cook, them, mash a little with a hand masher, then whip until smooth with an electric mixer. Yes, there are tiny flecks of red skin in the finished bread, but it looks kind of nice like that and it tastes just as good. I think it's a fair trade-off considering the the time it takes to peel all those small potatoes.

This is a WONDERFUL bread recipe and
a keeper. We have been making this
bread since it was published in the
11/94 issue of Bon Appetit
Magazine, and I must say, it is
definitely a crowd pleaser anytime
of the year. I have made it with
Yukon Gold potatoes, and it turns
out just as delicious.
Tip: I use a "Potato Ricer"
verses "mashing and straining" the
potatoes, which yields the same
consistency.
Tip: The recipe yields 2 VERY large
loaves. However, I found that after
the first rise, I divide the dough
into
3 vs 2 sections, which still yields
three generous loaves & allows for
more variation, such as kneading
with raisins, topping with Sesame or
Poppy Seeds, or if desired, make a
Plain loaf. Enjoy!

This bread is
excellent. My guests
ate almost all of
the first loaf and
1/2 of the second
loaf. I used
leftover mashed
potatoes, about 1
1/2 cups. One loaf
was plain to go with
soup. The second
loaf I kneaded in
golden raisins, and
a cinnamon/sugar
mixture. Then I
sprinkled melted
butter on top,
pecans and a brown
sugar/butter
crumble. I will
definitely make this
again.

Amazing bread, makes great french toast the next day also. I did make the mistake of putting both loaves on one sheet to rise, but the get huge! I was already making mashed potatoes with yukon gold potatoes, so I used those and it was great too. Excellent server warm.

This is a classic and
I never have
Thanksgiving with out
it since 1994. In fact
that whole Nov 94
magazine had
spectacular recipes
and is my Thanksgiving
cookbook.This bread
comes out beautiful
every time.

This is my favorite bread recipe, never comes out bad. I even forgot to raise it the second time once and it was still perfect. This was my first bread 6 years ago and I did not find it difficult. Breads take time due to kneading and raising, I plan my day around making this bread.

A disaster! When I was kneading the dough I had to add much more than the eight cups of flour that the recipe called for, but when I was getting ready to shape it into a braid I noticed that my dough was still too wet. I ended up baking them in a cake pan and ending up with a decent bread. I certainly will not make this again!

I disagree with the first reviewer. This is the first bread recipe I have ever made and it turned out beautifully. Anyone have any shortcuts, though, like mashing the potatoes with an electric mixer instead of putting them through the strainer?

This is just about the only bread recipe I make any more. Here is the trick to cut down on the tedious-ness of it. I usually make enough potatoes for two batches and then save the other half for the next time. To get the potato water, I just take a TBS of potatoes and add it to the correct amount of water... it always turns out. Also, this is a great recipe for dinner or sandwitch rolls, it also works well if you just want to throw it in a baking pan. Oh, before I forget, I usually leave out the raisins so I've just got a flavorful white potato bread.

I really enjoyed this recipe, especially for making breakfast bread w/ raisins, and I can just break off a hunk and eat it plain. I also gave some to others, and everyone loved it. Very moist, sweet, and light. Yummy.
However, I modified it so I could make it in my breadmaker, and I also used potato flakes (instead of all the work with mashing potatoes). Potato flakes are cheap and easy. I also cut the recipe in half, so it could fit in my breadmaker and since it's only me & my husband. If anyone else is interested in the time-saving method, here's the ingredients I used:
2 cups water (maybe a little bit less)
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons coarse salt
4 cups (about) unbleached all purpose flour
8.5 ounces potato flakes
½ cup sugar
1 ½ Tbs. dry yeast
Pam non-stick spray
Cornmeal
1 cup golden raisins (optional) coated in flour
½ egg, beaten to blend (glaze)
Sesame or poppy seeds
Add ingredients to breadmaker in order listed and program it to dough only, letting it rise (the first time) for one hour.
Then follow recipe beginning on the third paragraph. If you are cutting recipe in half, like I did, you only need one large baking sheet. Also, use the raisins, it's really good. I found the cooking times too long; I'd only cook it for about 10 minutes, then maybe 20 minutes at 350. I also used an aluminium tent after the first 10 minutes, because I didn't want the crust to brown more. And really be liberal with the oil and the cornmeal on the baking sheet.